Thursday, June 19, 2014

The TV buy that Dem Guv nominee Gary King made--and largely financed with a personal loan--had a start date of May 26 and an end date of June 21, according to KOB-TV public records. What comes next? Will King be able to stay on the air and have a presence as a relentless negative TV campaign continues against him that is financed by the Republican Governors Association? His campaign says fund-raising is going well, with Dem donors waiting on the sidelines for a primary winner now coming forward.
King supporters fret that he he has no ads up responding to the expensive assault being leveled by the RGA.

TV is the most expensive component of a Guv campaign, but the cost can fluctuate. For example, King bought the 10 p.m. news on KOB-TV for a mere $620. A 30 second spot on the 7 a.m. morning news goes for $400 a shot. All of the $18,000 King spent at KOB was devoted to news programs.

The AP reported on June 10 that King's initial TV buy at the three major stations is about $82,000. Right after the primary the RGA plunked down $120,000 on the three majors for hit pieces on King.

Then there's the separate ad buy from the Martinez campaign. Like King, she has spent much of her cash on the news programs watched by likely voters. But she spread her wings, also buying "The Tonight Show" for $310 a spot and her ads are being seen on other entertainment programs as well.

Whatever the initial fireworks fired. . .the campaign has a long way to go. The stage in June doesn’t necessarily dictate the final act in November. Despite a bunch of negative analyses of King’s chances, I suspect this is going to be a real horse race. Events in New Mexico are not going Martinez’s way. The state is plunging ever deeper into recession, businesses are closing, people are leaving, the federal government is cutting back and New Mexico’s most important manufacturer, Intel, seems to be preparing to shut down in 2016. . . We have a long way to go indeed. While the Republican Governors Association and Martinez are trying to take King out early with a massive TV assault, they can't take away the dreadful economy. That is King's hole card and much depends on how he plays it.

WE HAVE OUR WINNERS

That was a tough contest we ran on the Wednesday blog but the prizes were two pair of tickets to Friday night's Vintage Albuquerque food and wine event at the courtyard of the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Each pair of tickets sells for $170 and the best restaurants in the area will be there to provide gourmet samples and fine wines, all in a casual summer atmosphere. That's something special that had to be earned, and our winners did just that.

Our questions were not the kind you could find by a simple Google search or even in official state records. That didn't stop Rich Longo from striking first in the early morning hours. He was the first to correctly answer that it was John Simms who was elected as the youngest Governor prior to Dave Cargo who was the youngest ever elected at age of 37 years and 11 months in 1966. John F Simms, Jr. was the youngest before Cargo, having just turned 38 when he took the oath for a two year term on January 1, 1951. Sadly, Simms had an early death, passing away at age 58 in 1975.

And Rich also nailed the second part of our first question. We asked for the slogan for Jerry Apodaca's successful 1974 gubernatorial campaign. Rich correctly knew that slogan was: "The Man Nobody Owns."

Question two was a real brain teaser, and the one that tripped up the most readers. But Gerald McBride came through with the first right answer. He named Governor Thomas Mabry (1947-51) and Lieutenant Governor Mack Easley (1963-67) as two of the three state politicians who served in the executive and legislative branches of government and were also elected to a judgeship.

Before becoming governor, Mabry served in the state Senate (1912-17). He was elected to the state Supreme Court where he became Chief Justice and served from 1939-46.

Easely was elected to the state House from Lea County in the 50's and became Speaker. In 1975, Governor Apodaca appointed Easley to the New Mexico Supreme Court, where he was elected to a second term. He retired in 1982 as Chief Justice.

A number of readers said it was Governor Ed Mechem who served in all three branches. They were right, but Mechem was appointed to a federal judgeship. We asked for those who "were elected" judge.

So who was the third person to do so? No one could tell us. It was legendary Valencia County State Senator Tibo Chavez who also served a stint in the executive branch as lieutenant governor (1951-55), was elected to the state Senate where he served as Majority Leader and was also elected a district court judge. In 1979, Gov. King appointed him to a district judgeship in Valencia County. He won several election bids thereafter.

We were assisted in formulating the questions by two of the best armchair New Mexico political historians we know. Foster Hannett, whose great uncle, Arthur Hannett, served a term as Governor in (1925-27), and Bruce Donisthorpe, the pollster and political analyst who is a longtime blog contributor and whose mother Christine Donisthorpe is a well-known former GOP state Senator from Farmington.

As good as these guys are, even they didn't know that Tibo Chavez was one of the correct answers to question #2. They found out in the course of looking for contest questions.

Well, fellas you're good, but we doubt anyone is good enough to stump our entire audience of Alligators, insiders and lovers of La Politica.

Hearty congratulations to Rich and Gerald. They and their companions will enjoy the great food, wines and silent auction in a causal courtyard setting this Friday. And thanks to Vintage Albuquerque--the premier food and wine event--for donating the tickets and for the many charitable contributions they make to our city.

If the contest whetted your appetite, you can purchase tickets for the Friday event by clicking here. Tickets are also available at the door beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.